Write-a-Book Project 2019

Monaghan Education Centre is pleased to announce details of this year’s literacy project:

Write A Book 2019. This will follow similar lines to previous projects, with participating teachers marking books from other schools, and culminating in a presentation evening in May/June 2019.

Write a Book is a non-competitive project, encouraging children and teachers to develop the process writing approach in their classes. It also involves taking a critical look at books, and imaginative use of art. It is age-appropriate for pupils from Junior Infants to 6th Class, accounting for all ability levels.

Features of the Write a Book project include:

Planning, drafting, editing, writing and illustrating a book on a topic of choice.

Each child will receive a certificate acknowledging his/her achievement in producing a book. At least one child from every class participating will be awarded a Merit Award at a special Presentation Evening. Two/Three children from each class will have their work highly commended.

Merit Awards will be presented to approximately one child in every 10 who attend Learning Support or Resource lessons.

In Infant classes, children may work on a short picture book with less text, focusing on topics familiar to them.

The teacher undertaking Write a Book with his/her class will work on the project as part of the class’ English and Art programmes during this period. Work previously covered in class may be incorporated into the story, for example, a previously written story may be further developed, edited and written and illustrated as a new book. Fiction and non-fiction books are equally viable as original works in this project, as are texts completely as gaeilge.

The teacher will certify that each child’s work is his/her own.

At the end of the project, each teacher will accept one batch of books from another school. After reading the books, the teacher will award one merit and two/three highly commended awards (dependent on class size) to books they have read.

Fee of €20 per teacher – maximum €60 per school, payable when registering.

Books should be entirely the children’s own work. Neat handwriting and artistic illustrations are encouraged. Write a Book does not encourage use of technology in the production of books. In some circumstances, technology may be necessary. If modern technology is used, the class teacher must assure the coordinator that this is the child’s own work.

For Consideration:

“Winning” books (Merit) should be of the best quality within the age-group being judged, with an emphasis on interesting storyline, chronology, good character descriptions and interactions. Well-considered illustrations, including an eye-catching cover should be clear features of the book’s design. All teachers should make their pupils aware of this prior to, and during the writing process, as attention to these points will be assessed during the marking process.

Please refer to the criteria listed below when writing with your class, and when assessing other class’ work to ensure consistency of marking within the project.

Infants to 2nd Class

3rd Class to 6th Class

Quality illustrations

Gripping cover and blurb

Interesting story

Development of storyline

Correct sentence structure

Use of more complex language and sentences

Sequencing ideas and events

Grammatically sound writing including consistency of tenses, correct use of punctuation

TIMEFRAME

February 13th 2019

Register intent to participate in the project

March 27th 2019

Book swap day at Monaghan Education Centre 3:30 – 4:30pm prompt

8-11th April

The week before Easter break 2019

All Books to be returned to Monaghan Education Centre, clearly marked as Merit/ Highly Commended/ Congratulations for participating before 5:00pm

May/June 2019

Presentation Evening

Please note that because Easter falls late this year, all books are to be completely finished, marked, and returned to the Education Centre BEFORE the Easter break to facilitate a smooth transition to the Presentation Evening for winners.